July 2014

July 2014 | Quality Report Headlines

The Presidential Elections: MQG congratulates Reuven Rivlin, former Knight of Quality Government in 2012, upon his election as the new President of the State of Israel. The letter MQG addressed to Rivlin upon his elections wrote: “We are thrilled and proud on your election and are positive you will do the utmost for the people of Israel, out of the valence, dedication, modesty, strength and belief that characterise your civil service.”

Passing the bill for strengthening whistleblower protection: A month after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the proposal to amend the State Comptroller law, which was drafted by MQG and MK Mickey Rosenthal, witnessed the passing of the bill in its first reading in the Knesset. The purpose of this amendment is to widen the legal definition of the term “act of corruption”, thus strengthening the protection of those who reveal acts of corruption. The bill will bring an end to the outrageous reality where many whistleblowers do not receive proper legal protection, simply because the legal definition of the term “corruption” is too narrow.

A ‘Decree Nisi’ for the appointment of Deputy Minister Hanegbi due to prior conviction: Following MQG’s petition, the Supreme Court issued a ‘Decree Nisi’ (conditional order) for the appointment of the Deputy Foreign Minister, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, in which the Foreign Minister, the Prime Minister and the Government of Israel were instructed to explain why they do not revoke the appointment of MK Hanegbi as Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel. This is due to the fact that Hanegbi is a convicted felon and was previously charged with moral turpitude. The Supreme Court’s next discussion on the subject of is set for October 5th.

Defect Report on the “Dror” interchange project: MQG turned to the CEO of “Israel Roads” following the publication of the defect report describing the failures that led to postponing the opening date of the “Dror” interchange by several months. To recall, a few days prior to the initiation of the interchange, a number of infrastructure flaws were discovered, leading to postponing the opening of the interchange by several months. MQG wishes to know what steps have been taken by the company to ensure that such incidents are not to occur in future.

Examining the prices of the postal company and its services: MQG turned to the Minister of Communications, the Minister of Finance and the CEO of the Israel Postal Company, calling them to implement the recommendations of the committee that examined the prices of the postal company and its services. The committee was established due to the faulty conduct which led to the alleged severe deficit from which it suffers, and to recommend any changes necessary in order to stabilize the company’s current condition.

Complaint against the Municipality of Or Yehuda for preventing the use of a public bomb shelter for protection: MQG called on the Attorney General to investigate a complaint of a resident of Or Yehuda during Operation “Defensive Edge”, according to which the municipality’s inspection department used one of the public bomb shelters and prevented residents from using it for protection against rockets fired at the city. The problem was resolved a week later, and the shelter is since open for public use.

Call on the State Comptroller to review alleged flaws in the conduct of emergency service dispatches: MQG turned to the State Comptroller, Yoseph Shapira, to examine the conduct of the emergency service dispatches. MQG emphasized the serious incident, where three Israeli teenagers were murdered by terrorists, which revealed serious flaws in the conduct and regulations of the emergency dispatches. These flaws severely hurt the citizens’ sense of security, their trust in the authorities and may even lead to the loss of human life.

Channel 10 prohibits the appearance of convicted felons: MQG applauded the CEO of Channel 10 on his decision to ban the appearance of individuals indicted or convicted of criminal offenses. MQG believes that the appearance of indicted or convicted felons on various television programs, reduces the importance and severity of convictions and indictments, and erodes the fundamental principles of Israeli society.

Opposition to the “Dolphinarium compound” building plan: A recently submitted municipal outline plan in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, regarding the grounds of the Dolphinarium on the promenade and concerning the removal of the compound, also included an approval for the company currently leasing the compound to construct a hotel and residential building in a nearby plot. MQG, along with The Israel Union for Environmental Defence, filed their opposition to this plan, due to the many flaws and defects which characterise it, and specifically the high and non-proportional cost the public is required to carry out this plan.

MK salary update:Amid the public campaign MQG is leading against the automatic and ostentatious MKs salary update, it called on the chairman of the House Committee, MK Yariv Levin, to inform on the progress of submitting the Levy Committee recommendations for determining the salaries of MKs to the Knesset. MQG wishes to know whether and when the Knesset Committee intends to submit these recommendations to the Knesset.

Tender for Orthodox District Manager in the Ministry of Education: MQG filed a motion to the Jerusalem District Court petitioning against the Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Education to nullify the tender as it illegal and violates the principle of equality. The motion was filed after MQG turned to the Minister of Education and the Civil Service Commissioner seeking a comment on the allegations regarding a tender for the Orthodox district manager position. Concerns were raised that the professional requirements of the tender were lowered without any substantial basis, in order to suit the qualifications of candidates who did not meet the threshold requirements needed for the position.

Call to review the conduct of MK Haim Katz during the preliminary elections for the Knesset: MQG filed a request to the Attorney General to examine the conduct of MK Haim Katz during the preliminary elections for the 18th and 19th Knesset. The request came after a State Comptroller report and information received by MQG, which raise concerns of alleged improper conduct by MK Chaim Katz, who in addition to serving as a member of the Knesset, is also the chairman of the workers’ union at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). According to suspicions, Katz used his influence at the IAI to harness its workers to promote his candidacy during the primaries.

Transparency in votes of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation: MQG turned to the members of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, and to the Minister of Justice who serves as its chairwoman, calling to vote in favor of applying transparency regulations on committee votes so that all votes of Ministers in the Committee will be transparent and open to the public.

The Mossad head’s “house meeting”: MQG turned to the Prime Minister asking to him clarify the matter of the appearances by the head of the Mossad at house meetings, and whether it is clear why such appearances by the head of the Mossad before influential businessmen and women is so questionable. The address was made following an article published in “Ha’aretz” newspaper, which described the head of the Mossad as delivering a security review and sharing his thoughts in a “house meeting” of “the forum of company heads and senior businessmen in the Israeli economy”, which has some 30 businessmen.